Method for manufacturing and/or packaging cigarettes in a production and/or packaging plant

ABSTRACT

A method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes in a production and/or packaging installation using starting material ( 28 - 32, 36 - 40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1,  etc.), at least one of the starting materials, for example film webs, paper webs or the like, being fed to the production and/or packaging installation in defined material units. Production-relevant data (A-E) which can be determined, in particular, exclusively during the production process and are dependent on at least one starting material ( 28 - 32, 36 - 40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1,  etc.)—material characteristics—are recorded and clearly assigned to the respective starting material ( 28 - 32, 36 - 40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1,  etc.), preferably to a starting-material unit, it being the case that the recorded material characteristics (A-E) assigned to the starting material ( 28 - 32, 36 - 40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1,  etc.) are stored in a memory of a computing unit ( 33, 42 ), in particular for subsequent evaluation.

STATEMENT OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the U.S. National Phase Under Chapter II of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of PCT International Application No. PCT/EP2007/001885 having an International Filing Date of 6 Mar. 2007, which claims priority on German Patent Application No. 10 2006 017 106.3 having a filing date of 10 Apr. 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes in a production and/or packaging installation using starting material, at least one of the starting materials, for example film webs, paper webs or the like, being fed to the production and/or packaging installation in defined material units.

2. Related Art

In the cigarette industry, different suppliers supply starting material necessary for the production process—film webs, paper webs, blanks and the like—often with respectively identical desired technical properties, for example identical dimensions and other parameters. The various starting materials, which can each be assigned to a certain type of starting material, have certain characteristics which can be checked by suitable measuring methods in the laboratory prior to the materials being used in the production and/or packaging installation—referred to hereinbelow as the production line. In addition, however, there are further (material) characteristics relevant to the production process which can be recorded and/or measured exclusively as the respective material is being processed in the production line.

For example, the running behavior of paper webs, film webs or the like which have been wound up on reels can obviously be analyzed exclusively during the production process. The tendency of the respective starting material to lead to cases of defective production also constitutes an example of such characteristics. Furthermore, the compatibility of certain combinations of starting materials can be recorded only within the production process.

The material characteristics which belong to starting materials of a certain type coming from different manufacturers and which cannot be verified in the laboratory, but can only be recorded during the production process, cannot be quantified in the prior-art production and/or packaging lines. Due to the lack of verifiable data, an operator of a certain machine, for example of a packaging machine, therefore has to develop a feeling over time as to which starting materials from the respective suppliers give better, and which give poorer, production results. These evaluations based purely on the experience of the operators cannot be quantified. They are therefore susceptible to error.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is thus to improve a method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes in a production and/or packaging installation to the effect that it is possible to analyze material characteristics determined during production on the basis of objective, quantifiable criteria, in particular it is possible to compare the qualities of starting materials from different suppliers.

This object is achieved by a method of the type mentioned in the introduction in the case of which production-relevant data which can be determined during the production process—in particular exclusively during the production process—and are dependent on at least one starting material are recorded and clearly assigned at least to this starting material, preferably to a unit of the starting material, and in the case of which the recorded characteristics assigned to the starting material are stored in a memory of a computing unit, preferably for subsequent evaluation.

For the first time in the cigarette industry, it is therefore the case that starting-material-dependent data obtained during the production process—referred to hereinbelow as material characteristics—are recorded in a material-specific manner. Such material characteristics may be, for example, the tendency of the starting material to lead to cases of defective production, the running behavior of the starting material, the number of splices which are necessary on account of tears in the starting material or which were already present when the materials were supplied, or the like. This material-specific recording advantageously allows a wide range of verifiable analyses of the properties of the starting material used.

Starting material of various types is often available in the form of reels in the individual production units of the production and/or packaging installation for producing and/or packaging cigarettes. As soon as the reel material of a certain type of starting material has been used up during the production process, a new reel is inserted. This may possibly be a reel from another manufacturer.

It is particularly preferably the case that the material characteristics are therefore even recorded in a material-unit-specific manner. Material-unit-specific sensing of material characteristics is intended to mean, within the context of the present application, any assignment to a certain material unit of the starting material used of material characteristics which can be determined and are recorded, in particular measured, exclusively during the production process. A material unit can be defined, in the simplest case, as a reel of the starting material. Of course, it is also conceivable in principle, however, for a plurality of successive reels, or just parts of a single reel, to be defined as a material unit. It is also the case that stacks of blanks or the like can be understood as a material unit in this sense. The critical factor is the assignment to the material unit of material characteristics which are attributable to the material unit.

It is preferably possible to determine the points in time at which material units are changed, in particular the point in time at which the production and/or packaging installation is fed a new material unit and the point in time at which this material unit is completely used up. The material characteristics can be recorded, and in particular compared with one another, at these points in time. For example, the number of products which it has been possible to produce from a material unit can be used to conclude whether the material unit has the quantity/size specified by the supplier. In the case of a reel, the actual web length of the material wound up on the reel can be derived in this way.

A preferred possible way of assigning the starting material to the material characteristics which can be, or are, sensed during production is to allocate to the starting material or the starting-material units a respective clear identification marking, for example a coding, which is stored in the memory of the computing unit. In a preferred embodiment, such a marking is already allocated to the starting material or the starting-material unit, for example in the form of a bar code, by the manufacturer.

The marking can be read out automatically by a reader assigned to the production and/or packaging installation, and then transmitted to the computing unit for storage purposes. During the production process, for clear identification, material characteristics of the starting material are then recorded, assigned to the marking and subsequently stored in the memory.

In a further configuration of the present invention, if use is made of an alternative material to a starting material of a defined type which is necessary for producing a specific end or intermediate product—cigarette, cigarette pack, multipack, blank or the like—the material-specific or material-unit-specific characteristics of this alternative material are also stored.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Further features of the present invention can be gathered from the accompanying subclaims, from the following description of a preferred exemplary embodiment and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a production and packaging installation for cigarettes.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of recordable, material-specific data of various starting materials of different types.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The exemplary embodiment which is illustrated in the drawings and in the following description relates to a production and packaging installation for cigarettes, that is to say to a so-called production line. The latter comprises production units, namely, for example, a cigarette-production machine, namely a maker 10, a packaging machine which follows the latter, that is to say a packer 11, a subsequent film-wrapping machine 12, a packaging machine for producing multipacks from a plurality of cigarette packs, that is to say a multipacker 13, and a cartoner 14 for packing the (cigarette) multipacks into a shipping carton. The cigarettes produced by the maker 10 are fed by a cigarette conveyer 15, with an associated cigarette store 16, to the packer 11, e.g. a hinge-lid packer for producing hinge-lid boxes. The packer 11 is assigned a blank store 17, that is to say an arrangement for accommodating a relatively large supply of prefabricated blanks for the hinge-lid boxes, and this blank store has conveying mechanisms for feeding stacks of blanks to the packer 11. The (cigarette) packs produced by the packer 11 are fed, via a pack conveyor 18, to the film-wrapping machine 12. The latter has the task of wrapping the cigarette packs in an outer film or plastic blank. The completed cigarette packs are used to form pack groups which, in the region of the multipacker 13, are provided with a multipack wrapper and thus result in the formation of a cigarette multipack made up of usually ten cigarette packs. These cigarette multipacks are fed, by a multipack conveyor 19, to the cartoner 14. The latter transfers finished shipping cartons 20, containing a plurality of cigarette multipacks, to a removal conveyor 21. Located in the region of the pack conveyor 18 between the packer 11 and a film-wrapping machine 12 is a pack store 22 for accommodating a relatively large number of cigarette packs (without any outer wrapper).

The production units described have to be supplied with starting material. The maker 10 is to be fed a sufficient quantity of tobacco, and also cigarette paper in the form of wound webs, namely reels. The maker 10 is also to be fed filter-attachment paper, likewise wound in the form of reels, in order for the finished cigarettes to be supplied with the appropriate material in the region of a filter-attachment machine 23. The other production units are to be supplied packaging material likewise in wound webs, that is to say in the form of reels. This applies to the production of a collar which is conventional in cigarette packs of the hinge-lid-box type, and also for an inner wrapper, a so-called inner liner, of the cigarette group, and for the outer wrapper made of film or cellulose. A central store 24 is provided for all the starting material and, in it, the reels 25 of the different materials are stored, for example, on panels. A suitable conveying arrangement, for example a common material conveyor 26, can be displaced along a conveying path 27 between the store 24 and the individual production units in order to supply the reel material as required. In the case of the example shown, the store 24 may be constructed such that filter-attachment paper 28, collar material 29, inner-liner material 30, film material 31 and cigarette paper 32 can be positioned in the region of the conveying path 27 in order to be received by the material conveyor 26, to be precise in an advantageous position relative to the associated production unit in each case.

The sequence of producing the cigarettes until the finished shipping carton 20 filled with cigarette multipacks is obtained is monitored by a central computing unit, namely a control apparatus 33, which is connected for communication purposes to each production unit, specifically to a respective machine-control means 35 assigned locally to the or each production unit, for example via a bus, in particular a field bus 34 or a local network, in particular PC network. Via the field bus 34, the control apparatus 33 exchanges data with in each case one or each production unit and, in the process, transmits for example manipulated variables to the respective production unit or receives production-specific data. The computing unit 33 is, for example, a process computer or a central unit of a programmable controller. Codes for all the materials used for producing and packaging the cigarettes are stored, in a suitable data structure, in a memory (not illustrated) of the computer unit 33. Likewise stored in this memory, by way of the code, is an allocation of a material to in each case at least one production unit.

FIG. 2 shows for various production units, namely for the maker 10, the packer 11, the film-wrapping machine 12, the multipacker 13 and the cartoner 14, starting materials which can, be fed to these production units in each case. The maker 10 is fed two different starting materials, namely cigarette paper 32 and filter-attachment paper 28. Both the cigarette paper 32 and the filter-attachment paper 28 are wound up on reels. The packaging machine 11 is fed hinge-lid box blanks 36 in stack form and inner-liner material, namely tin-foil paper, and collar material 29 in reel form. The film-wrapping machine 12 is fed film material 31 and tear-open-thread material 37 in reel form. The multipacker 13 is fed multipack blanks 38 in stack form and wrapping material 39 in reel form. The cartoner is fed carton blanks 40 in stack form.

The different starting materials in each case, for example the two starting materials of the “cigarette paper” type, are obtained, in the present example, from different suppliers. This therefore results in different goods or alternative materials of the same type with identical desired properties, also referred to hereinbelow, in general terms as different “batches”. In FIG. 2, the two batches of cigarette paper 32 are designated 32.1 and 32.2, the three batches of coating paper 28 are designated 28.1, 28.2, 28.3, the three batches of hinge-lid-box blanks 36 are designated 36.1, 36.2, 36.3, etc. Of course, it is not imperative for the respective batches to come from different suppliers; they may also denote different goods with identical desired properties from one and the same supplier.

For example, for producing a certain type of cigarette in the maker 10, it is possible to use, in principle, the two cigarette-paper batches 32.1, 32.2 of the “cigarette paper” type of starting material. However, even when the desired properties of different batches which can be checked in the laboratory—for example the web width of the cigarette paper—are identical, different production data which are dependent on, and/or influenced by, the batch which is used in each case are often obtained during use.

For example, the number of acceptable and/or defective products produced, for example the number of acceptable or defective cigarettes, acceptable or defective cigarette packs or the like, may depend directly on the batch of respective starting materials used or on the combination of batches of starting materials used.

Furthermore, the desired web length which is specified by a supplier for a material wound up on a reel, and can be verified only inaccurately, if at all, in the laboratory, may differ from the actual length. This can be checked according to the invention using data recorded during the production process, for example by the number of end or intermediate products, for example the number of cigarettes, the number of cigarette packs, or in general the number of blanks, which have been produced from a defined material unit, for example a certain reel, being recorded.

According to the invention, during the production process, production-relevant data which are dependent directly or indirectly on the starting material—material characteristics—are recorded in a material—specific manner, in particular in a material-unit-specific or batch-specific manner, and then stored in a memory of the computing unit 33.

A-E are used in FIG. 2, in respect of each production unit 10-14, to designate different material characteristics of the starting materials respectively processed in these production units 10-14. The material characteristics A-E can be measured, or recorded in some other way, exclusively during the production process.

Each starting material of the production units 10-14 is assigned those material characteristics A-E which are influenced directly or indirectly by the respective starting material or are dependent thereon.

The symbol A symbolizes, for example, human errors which occur as the corresponding batch of starting material, for example the cigarette-paper batch 32.1, is being processed. Similarly, the symbol B symbolizes machine errors occurring during processing of the respective batch. Further material characteristics relating to one or more of the respective starting materials are recorded in a similar manner, for example material errors C which are recorded during production, the actual reel length D measured and tears E in the web recorded.

Each of these material characteristics A-E is recorded using methods which are known per se from the prior art, for example by way of direct or indirect measurement using suitable measuring means such as sensors and the like. The material characteristics A-E are then transmitted to the computing unit 33. In the present exemplary embodiment, the material characteristics are transmitted to the central computing unit and stored on an interim basis there.

The computing unit 33 assigns the material characteristics A-E in each case to one or more batches of one or more selected types of starting material currently being processed. For example, certain material characteristics A-E relating to the maker 10 are assigned to the cigarette-paper batch 32.1 or 32.2 and/or the filter-attachment-paper batch 28.1 or 28.2 or 28.3 currently being processed.

Some of the material characteristics recorded, for example the actual web length of a reel, are preferably assigned to the current batch of just one type of starting material, for example just with a cigarette paper. Other material characteristics, for example the number of acceptable and defective products, are preferably assigned to the respective current batches of a plurality of types of starting material, since these characteristics are possibly influenced by a combination of different types of starting material. Prior to the production process starting, it is defined which material characteristics are assigned to the respective current batches of which types of starting material. This assignment—material characteristic, on the one hand, and type of starting material, on the other hand—can be stored in the memory assigned to the computing unit 33.

The operation of the material currently being processed, or of the material unit currently being processed, being assigned, in turn, in relation to the material characteristics recorded preferably takes place by the clear markings 41 assigned to the material unit, namely the bar codes, being read, in particular, automatically by a reader, and transmitted to the computer unit 33, as the material unit is fed to the production unit 10-14.

For example as a reel is being changed, the marking 41 of the new reel can be recorded and transmitted to the computer unit 33.

All the material characteristics—including the clear material marking of the starting material currently being processed—of all the starting materials are historically recorded and stored. Accordingly, at each point in time of recording the various material characteristics during the production process, the information is stored as to which starting materials, in particular starting-material units or batches of the respective starting materials, of the various types of starting material are currently being processed. This makes it possible, in particular, to evaluate the collected historical data to ascertain with which combinations of types of starting material certain material characteristics, for example the number of acceptable and defective packs, the number of machine stoppages or the like, are particularly advantageous.

In the present exemplary embodiment, all the data are transmitted to a higher-level analyzer 42. This analyzer 42 has a higher-level computing unit with suitable analysis software, preferably SAP software.

From the recorded and respectively assigned characteristics of the various alternative materials, for example the cigarette-paper batches 32.1 and 32.2, to a certain type of starting material, the analyzer 42 selects the starting material, for example the cigarette-paper batch 32.1, which satisfies a certain predetermined criterion or at least comes closest to satisfying the criterion of all the alternative materials. The starting material selected is indicated on a screen.

Such a criterion may be, for example, the frequency of machine stoppages which occur in the case of the material selected. The analyzer 42 selects the starting material for which, with production conditions otherwise as far as possible being identical, the fewest machine stoppages are recorded.

Furthermore, from a number of recorded and respectively assigned characteristics of different alternative materials of different types of starting material which are necessary for producing the specific end or intermediate product—cigarette, cigarette packs, multipack, blank or the like—the analyzer 42 can select the combination of starting materials which satisfies a predetermined criterion or at least comes closest to satisfying the criterion. This selection is also indicated on a screen.

It is also the case with this selection, which can be carried out by the analyzer 42, that such a criterion may be the frequency of machine stoppages which occur in the case of the respective combination of starting materials.

The starting materials selected by the analyzer 42 are preferably entered in parts lists 43 of the products—cigarettes, cigarette packs, multipacks or the like—produced in the production and packaging installation.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, as material characteristics, it is also possible for data of machine presettings of one or more of the production units 10-14, for example manipulated variables for adjusting adjustable mechanisms, to be recorded and assigned to one or more of the starting materials. In various test runs of the production units 10-14, it is then possible for individual machine presettings to be altered slightly from test run to test run, while the rest of the influencing variables, in particular the starting materials, are maintained in the same state. It is also the case that machine stoppages and/or rejects or further material characteristics are recorded and assigned to the starting materials. The data of all the test runs are historically recorded and analyzed. The analysis makes it possible, for example, to determine for which of the various machine presettings, in the given conditions, the number of machine stoppages and/or rejects is minimal.

As a person skilled in the art is aware, the various historically recorded, material-specific data can be used for a wide range of analyses which provide important technical information regarding the starting materials used.

LIST OF DESIGNATIONS

-   10 Maker -   11 Packer -   12 Film-wrapping machine -   13 Multipacker -   14 Cartoner -   15 Cigarette conveyor -   16 Cigarette store -   17 Blank store -   18 Pack conveyor -   19 Multipack conveyor -   20 Shipping carton -   21 Removal conveyor -   22 Pack store -   23 Filter-attachment machine -   24 Store -   25 Reel -   26 Material conveyor -   27 Conveying path -   28 Filter-attachment paper -   29 Collar material -   30 Inner-liner material -   31 Film material -   32 Cigarette paper -   33 Control apparatus -   34 Field bus -   35 Machine-control means -   36 Hinge-lid-box blank -   37 Tear-open thread material -   38 Multipack blank -   39 Wrapping material -   40 Carton blank -   41 Bar code -   42 Analyzer -   43 Parts list 

1. A method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes in a production and/or packaging installation using starting material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.), for example film webs, paper webs or the like, wherein at least one of the starting materials is fed to the production and/or packaging installation in defined material units, comprising: determining production-relevant data which can be determined exclusively during the production process and are dependent on at least one starting material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1 etc.), the production-relevant data being recorded and clearly assigned at least to this starting material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.), and storing the recorded production-relevant data assigned to the starting material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.) in a memory of a computing unit (33, 42) for subsequent evaluation.
 2. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 1, wherein the production-relevant data are material characteristics (A-E) and are assigned in each case to a material marking (41) allocated to the starting material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.) for clear identification by the material characteristics (A-E) in each case in respect of the corresponding material (41) of the respective starting material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.) or of the respective starting-material unit (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.) being stored in the memory of the computing unit (33, 42).
 3. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of machine stoppages and/or the number of rejects of end or intermediate products produced is recorded and assigned to at least one of the starting materials (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.).
 4. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 1, wherein data of machine presettings, for example manipulated variables for adjusting adjustable mechanisms of the production and/or packaging installation, are recorded and assigned to at least one of the starting materials (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.).
 5. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of end or intermediate products produced from the respective material unit is recorded and assigned to at least one of the starting materials (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.).
 6. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of acceptable and defective end or intermediate products—produced in the production and/or packaging installation and/or the number of rejects are/is recorded and assigned to at least one of the starting materials (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.).
 7. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of splices in the starting material is recorded and assigned to the starting material.
 8. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 1, wherein properties which can be measured by means of sensors, exhibited by the end and/or intermediate products produced in the production and/or packaging installation are measured and assigned to at least one of the starting materials (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.).
 9. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material characteristics (A-E) which are recorded during production and assigned to the starting material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.) are compared by the computing unit (33, 42) with desired values stored in a memory, and in that, in the event of deviations from the desired values, a signal indicating the deviation is displayed on a display arrangement.
 10. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 1, wherein, if use is made of an alternative material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.) to a starting material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.) of a defined type which is necessary for producing a specific end or intermediate product the material characteristics (A-E) of this alternative material are also recorded and assigned to the alternative material.
 11. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 10, wherein, from a number of recorded and respectively assigned material characteristics (A-E) of various alternative materials to a certain type of starting material, the computer (33, 42) selects the starting material (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.) which satisfies a predetermined criterion or comes closest to satisfying the criterion of all the alternative materials, and in that the selected starting material is displayed via a display arrangement, in particular via a screen.
 12. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 10, wherein, from a number of recorded and respectively assigned material characteristics (A-E) of different alternative materials of different types of starting material which are necessary for producing a specific end or intermediate product the computing unit (33, 42) selects the combination of starting materials (28-32, 36-40; 28.1, 28.2, 29.1, etc.) of different types which satisfies a predetermined criterion or comes closest to satisfying the criterion, and in that the selected combination of starting materials is displayed via a display arrangement, in particular via a screen.
 13. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, or 12, wherein the end or intermediate products are selected from the group consisting of cigarettes, cigarette packs, multipacks, and blanks.
 14. The method of producing and/or packaging cigarettes as claimed in claim 8, wherein the properties which can be measured by means of sensors are optically measurable properties. 